Traditional transportation modes via water, land, rail and air revolutionized the movement and growth of our current culture. Adverse environmental, societal, and economic impacts of these traditional transportation models, however, initiated a movement to find alternative transportation modes that take advantage of the significant improvements in transportation technology and efficiently move people and materials between locations. High-speed transportation systems utilizing rails or other structural guidance components have been contemplated as a solution to existing transportation challenges while improving safety, decreasing the environmental impact of traditional transportation modes and reducing the overall time commuting between major metropolitan communities.
A high speed, high efficiency transportation system utilizes a low-pressure environment in order to reduce drag on a vehicle at high operating speeds, thus providing the dual benefit of allowing greater speed potential and lowering the energy costs associated with overcoming drag forces. In embodiments, these systems may use a near vacuum (e.g., low-pressure) environment within a tubular structure.
Tube structures for low-pressure environments, however, may have some drawbacks, including material and manufacturing costs. Thus, there exists a need for alternative structures to the tube for low-pressure environments.